Bonita High School baseball to host fundraiser to support family of former coach Ted Persell, who died in December

Ted Persell coached at Bonita High School for just one season, but he made enough of an impact that Bearcats coach John Knott wanted to honor the former Valley player and coach, who died in an auto accident in December.

Bonita will host Alta Loma at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in an exhibition game that will pay tribute to Persell and lend support to his family, which includes a sixth-month-old daughter, his girl friend, three sisters and a brother.

There will be no admission charge, but donations of any amount will be accepted, and all money made from the snack bar and concessions, along with a 50/50 raffle will go to his family, who will also be honored before the game.

“The idea was to do something in his name, in his honor that he and his family would be proud of,” Knott said. “He was such a likable guy, and had a number of friends. The funeral was depressing, but at the same time amazing to see the lives he impacted, from kids to adults, coaches and players he played with and coached. It was neat to see a baseball community where so many people came together. I know he would be proud of that.”

Persell played locally at Bishop Amat and East Los Angeles College. He was head coach at Mountain View during the early 2000s and at Alta Loma from 2004-11, sharing a Baseline League title in 2009. He was assistant at Bonita last season.

The Duarte native also played collegiately at Cal State Fullerton.

Wednesday’s event will also include a freshman game, also at Bonita at 6:30 p.m., with a junior varsity game at Alta Loma at 3:15 p.m.

Knott also said that a tournament in Persell’s name is scheduled for next season.

New rival?

There is no doubt that Biola is Azusa Pacific University’s chief rival.

But new alliances and a new division creates new rivalries, and for the APU men’s basketball team, which moved from the Golden State Athletic Conference and NAIA to the Pacific West Conference and NCAA Division II last season, the latter may be Cal Baptist.

At least that was the feeling Friday following APU’s 78-65 over the Division II No. 12 Lancers at the Felix Event Center. It was Cal Baptist’s first loss of the season, dropping the Lancers to 16-1 overall and 10- in the PacWest. The Cougars improved to 10-6 and 6-4.

“We love playing in this environment, and this was a game I won’t forget,” said junior guard Robert Sandoval, who had 18 points and seven assists. “The fans brought the energy for us, our coaches prepared us well, and we played with a lot of heart because we wanted it.”

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It was also alumni night for the Cougars, who wore throw-back orange and black uniforms.

“It’s always special for me when alumni come back, because this place means a lot to me,” said APU coach Justin Leslie, who played on for the Cougars in 1997-98. “Those guys who were here (Friday) had a lot to do with the Felix Event Center getting built. There have been a lot of great teams over the years that have invested their effort and time to build this program into what it is today, so I’m very proud to be a part of it.

“I take the responsibility of being a coach very seriously, to honor those guys, and to make sure our players understand those who came before them and what it means to represent them.”